New Delhi:

Vikas Yadav, a former Indian government employee on the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s wanted list, was arrested ten months ago by the Delhi Police on charges of attempted murder and kidnapping.

The former officer of the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) has been charged by US prosecutors for his alleged role in directing a failed plot to kill Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, who holds dual citizenship of the US and Canada. The Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday confirmed that the individual named in the US Justice Department’s indictment was “no longer an employee of the government of India”.

Vikas Yadav, also known as Vikash Yadav, was arrested by the special cell of Delhi Police in December last year after a complaint by a businessman from Rohini in north west Delhi and a chargesheet was filed in March this year. Yadav got bail a month later in April.

The businessman – who is said to have many contacts in west Asia – told police that his acquaintance had introduced him to Vikas Yadav in November 2023 and told him that he was a senior government officer. They soon shared mobile numbers to stay in touch.

According to the complaint, Yadav often asked him about his work and friends. The former government employee had also told him that he worked as an undercover agent. But, he never shared any information about his work and office, the businessman told the police.

On December 11, Yadav called him and said that he wanted to discuss some issue and asked him to come to Lodhi Road, as per the complaint. There was another man with Yadav when he reached the location. The businessman claimed that they forcibly kidnapped him and took him to a flat in Defence Colony, where Yadav told him that gangster Lawrence Bishnoi had given him a contract to kill him.

Yadav’s associate then hit him on the head and took away his gold chain and rings, he alleged, adding they went to his cafe and took whatever cash was there. According to the complainant, they left him on the side of a road and threatened him with a dire outcome if he complained to anyone.

The businessman soon went to the police and a First Information Report or FIR was filed in the case under the sections of attempt to murder, criminal conspiracy and kidnapping. Yadav and his associate were arrested on December 18.

During interrogation, the associate told the police that he joined the conspiracy with Vikas Yadav as he had suffered losses in his business of old vehicles. He said that Yadav told him that his father was in the Border Security Force.

Vikas Yadav said that he planned the whole crime the day he met the businessman. Delhi Police filed a case in March, and Vikas got bail in April. Although Vikas got interim bail on March 22, but then he got regular bail in April.

US’ Charges Against Vikas Yadav

Vikas Yadav faces three charges: conspiracy to hire a hitman, the actual “murder-for-hire” plot, and money laundering. The charges against him and his alleged co-conspirator Nikhil Gupta, were unsealed in the Federal Southern District of New York Court on Thursday.

According to the indictment, Yadav was the alleged mastermind who recruited Gupta to carry out the plot in exchange for helping him get criminal cases against him dismissed. Nikhil Gupta was arrested in the Czech Republic and was extradited to the US in June.

Many of the details in the document repeat the same narratives made in earlier documents filed against Gupta, but this time, Yadav is identified by name.

“Yadav recruited Gupta to orchestrate the assassination of the Victim in the United States and that under Yadav’s directions, Gupta contacted a government “confidential source” who he thought was “a criminal associate,” it said.

As per the document, the alleged plot began around May 6 last year with Yadav sending Gupta a message on an encrypted app, “This is Vikas … save my name as Aman”.

In June 2023, they hired a “hitman” and agreed on a payment of $100,000 to allegedly kill the “victim”, the court document which did not name Pannun said. Yadav and Gupta arranged through an “associate of Yadav” to give $15,000 as advance.

The plot, however, unravelled as the “hitman” they hired was an undercover US law enforcement officer, according to the 18-page court document, which also included a photograph of Yadav dressed in military fatigues.

The charges were filed a day after an Indian Enquiry Committee set up to investigate the allegations visited Washington to discuss the case with US officials.

In November last year, US federal prosecutors charged Nikhil Gupta of working with an Indian government employee in the foiled plot to kill Pannun in New York.

New Delhi:

Vikas Yadav, a former Indian government employee on the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s wanted list, was arrested ten months ago by the Delhi Police on charges of attempted murder and kidnapping.

The former officer of the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) has been charged by US prosecutors for his alleged role in directing a failed plot to kill Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, who holds dual citizenship of the US and Canada. The Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday confirmed that the individual named in the US Justice Department’s indictment was “no longer an employee of the government of India”.

Vikas Yadav, also known as Vikash Yadav, was arrested by the special cell of Delhi Police in December last year after a complaint by a businessman from Rohini in north west Delhi and a chargesheet was filed in March this year. Yadav got bail a month later in April.

The businessman – who is said to have many contacts in west Asia – told police that his acquaintance had introduced him to Vikas Yadav in November 2023 and told him that he was a senior government officer. They soon shared mobile numbers to stay in touch.

According to the complaint, Yadav often asked him about his work and friends. The former government employee had also told him that he worked as an undercover agent. But, he never shared any information about his work and office, the businessman told the police.

On December 11, Yadav called him and said that he wanted to discuss some issue and asked him to come to Lodhi Road, as per the complaint. There was another man with Yadav when he reached the location. The businessman claimed that they forcibly kidnapped him and took him to a flat in Defence Colony, where Yadav told him that gangster Lawrence Bishnoi had given him a contract to kill him.

Yadav’s associate then hit him on the head and took away his gold chain and rings, he alleged, adding they went to his cafe and took whatever cash was there. According to the complainant, they left him on the side of a road and threatened him with a dire outcome if he complained to anyone.

The businessman soon went to the police and a First Information Report or FIR was filed in the case under the sections of attempt to murder, criminal conspiracy and kidnapping. Yadav and his associate were arrested on December 18.

During interrogation, the associate told the police that he joined the conspiracy with Vikas Yadav as he had suffered losses in his business of old vehicles. He said that Yadav told him that his father was in the Border Security Force.

Vikas Yadav said that he planned the whole crime the day he met the businessman. Delhi Police filed a case in March, and Vikas got bail in April. Although Vikas got interim bail on March 22, but then he got regular bail in April.

US’ Charges Against Vikas Yadav

Vikas Yadav faces three charges: conspiracy to hire a hitman, the actual “murder-for-hire” plot, and money laundering. The charges against him and his alleged co-conspirator Nikhil Gupta, were unsealed in the Federal Southern District of New York Court on Thursday.

According to the indictment, Yadav was the alleged mastermind who recruited Gupta to carry out the plot in exchange for helping him get criminal cases against him dismissed. Nikhil Gupta was arrested in the Czech Republic and was extradited to the US in June.

Many of the details in the document repeat the same narratives made in earlier documents filed against Gupta, but this time, Yadav is identified by name.

“Yadav recruited Gupta to orchestrate the assassination of the Victim in the United States and that under Yadav’s directions, Gupta contacted a government “confidential source” who he thought was “a criminal associate,” it said.

As per the document, the alleged plot began around May 6 last year with Yadav sending Gupta a message on an encrypted app, “This is Vikas … save my name as Aman”.

In June 2023, they hired a “hitman” and agreed on a payment of $100,000 to allegedly kill the “victim”, the court document which did not name Pannun said. Yadav and Gupta arranged through an “associate of Yadav” to give $15,000 as advance.

The plot, however, unravelled as the “hitman” they hired was an undercover US law enforcement officer, according to the 18-page court document, which also included a photograph of Yadav dressed in military fatigues.

The charges were filed a day after an Indian Enquiry Committee set up to investigate the allegations visited Washington to discuss the case with US officials.

In November last year, US federal prosecutors charged Nikhil Gupta of working with an Indian government employee in the foiled plot to kill Pannun in New York.

File image of Vikash Yadav, released by the United States Department of Justice.

U.S. prosecutors accused a former Indian government employee of directing a foiled plot to kill pro-Khalistan separatist figure Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in a case that has disrupted the India-US relations and mirrors a 2023 killing in Canada.

The accused Vikash Yadav was identified thus far as CC-1, in the original indictment filed by the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) in 2023. This comes almost 11 months after the first U.S. indictment uncovering the alleged plot.

Another Indian, Nikhil Gupta, was charged last year and is currently being detained in Brooklyn, following his arrest in the Czech Republic last year. Mr. Yadav, it is alleged, had recruited Mr. Gupta to find a hitman and have Pannun killed.

Also Read: U.S. charges Indian citizen Vikash Yadav, aka ‘CC-1’ in murder-for-hire plot against Gurpatwant Singh Pannun

Who is Vikash Yadav?

On Friday, U.S. prosecutors in New York announced the “filing of murder-for-hire and money laundering charges against Indian government employee Vikash Yadav, a/k/a “Vikas,” a/k/a “Amanat,” in connection with his role in directing a foiled plot to assassinate a U.S. citizen in New York City.

According to the Sealed Superseding Indictment of the United States District Court, Mr. Yadav was employed by the Cabinet Secretariat of the Government of India, which houses India’s foreign intelligence service, the Research and Analysis Wing (“R&AW”). Mr. Yadav has described his position as a “Senior Field Officer” with responsibilities in “Security Management” and “Intelligence.” He also has served in India’s largest paramilitary force – Central Reserve Police Force.

As per a ‘wanted’ notice issued by the FBI, Mr. Yadav was born in Haryana in 1984 and used “Amanat” as an alias when communicating with his co-conspirator, Nikhil Gupta, to facilitate the murder plot. He was an “Assistant Commandant,” at the CRPF with command of a 135-man company.

The DoJ document alleges Mr. Yadav provided information, such as the victim’s residential addresses, phone numbers, and other identifying information, to the Indian national in furtherance of the plot”.

The MEA has said that “the individual named in the U.S. indictment in Pannun case” is no longer an employee of the Indian government. “The U.S. State Department informed us that the individual mentioned in the indictment is no longer employed by India. I confirm that he is no longer an employee of the Government of India,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal announced at a press briefing.

Also Read: Pannun case: Unwarranted, unsubstantiated imputations, says India on media report

What is the Gurpatwant Singh Pannun murder plot? 

U.S. authorities believe the alleged plot to kill pro-Khalistani Sikh separatist, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, who is wanted on terror charges in India, was ordered by the previous chief of the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW), and had official sanction from senior intelligence officials with “with ties to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s inner circle”, the Washington Post, a U.S.-national daily, reported.

The Pannun murder plot involves a foiled assassination attempt targeting Sikh separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a vocal critic of the Indian government and advocate for a separate Sikh state, Khalistan. Pannun, a dual U.S.-Canadian citizen, was allegedly targeted by Indian intelligence in a murder-for-hire plot. U.S. authorities charged Vikash Yadav, a former Indian intelligence official, with orchestrating the plan. According to the indictment, Mr. Yadav collaborated with other Indian agents to execute the plot in New York City in 2023.

The indictment alleges that Mr. Yadav along with his co-conspirator Nikhil Gupta plotted to kill the Sikh separatist leader . For this Mr. Gupta hired an individual to do the job. The unidentified individual, who was an informant to the FBI, asked for $100,000 for the job and received $15,000 as an advance payment on June 9, 2023.

What is the role of Vikash Yadav in the Nijjar killing? 

Relations between India and Canada have been under a severe strain since September last year, when Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told his Parliament that there was evidence linking Indian agents to the assassination of Nijjar, a Sikh separatist who was shot dead in Surrey, Canada in June 2023.

The indictment reveals that there was a link between the murder of Sikh separatist Nijjar in Canada during the same period. Federal prosecutors have shared communications between Mr. Yadav, Mr. Gupta and the alleged killer in the two incidents.

Also Read: Who was Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the Sikh activist whose killing has divided Canada and India?

While Mr. Gupta was arrested, Mr. Yadav remains at large, and the investigation continues amidst tense geopolitical relations between India and Canada.

New Delhi:

The United States this week named Vikash Yadav, a former Indian intelligence officer once associated with the Research and Analysis Wing, or R&AW – as the shadowy central figure in a failed plot to kill Gurpatwant Pannun, a Khalistani terrorist and founder of the banned Sikhs For Justice.

Pannun is a resident of New York and holds dual American and Canadian citizenship.

Vikash Yadav, 39, – known so far only as ‘CC-1’ in the indictment filed in a New York court – is in India at this time, but US officials are expected to pursue his extradition in connection with an alleged murder-for-hire conspiracy involving a second Indian citizen – Nikhil Gupta.

Gupta, 53, was extradited from Czechia to the US in June.

Yadav and Gupta face charges of murder-for-hire, conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, and conspiracy to commit money laundering, and could be jailed for 40 years if convicted.

READ | Ex Indian Spy Charged In US Over Plot To Kill Khalistani Terroristt

India has confirmed Yadav is an ex-employee of its premier spy agency.

The third member of this alleged conspiracy was the ‘hitman’ – allegedly contacted by Gupta on instructions from Yadav – who turned out to be an undercover American federal agent.

Gurpatwant Pannun Murder Plot Latest

Yadav’s identity was made public Thursday after the US Justice Department unsealed a second indictment – the first named Gupta – in the Pannun murder-for-hire plot.

Vikash Yadav remains “at large”, the Justice Department said, accusing the two men of “conspiring to assassinate an American citizen of Indian origin on US soil”.

India has said Yadav – who also claims to have served in the Central Reserve Police Force – is no longer a government employee, after which State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters the prosecutors are “satisfied” with New Delhi’s cooperation.

Vikash Yadav, Gurpatwant Pannun Murder-For-Hire Conspirator

US prosecutors believe Yadav recruited Gupta in May last year.

According to the unsealed indictment Vikash Yadav – “during times relevant (to these charges)” – was, in fact, was “employed by the Government of India’s Cabinet Secretariat, which houses Indian’s foreign intelligence service (i.e., RAW)”.

The indictment has Yadav describing his position as a “senior field officer” responsible for “security management” and “intelligence”. Apart from claiming to have served in the CRPF – which Delhi has not confirmed – Yadav also claimed to have been trained in “battle craft”.

The document also includes a photograph of Mr Yadav in military attire.

It also includes a photo two people exchanging money – American dollars – in a car. The photo was reportedly taken in New York and shows, prosecutors claim, money being paid to the ‘hitman’ by an as yet unknown man acting on behalf of Nikhil Gupta and Vikash Yadav.

Gurpatwant Pannun Murder Conspiracy Details

The prosecution claims possession of communications between Yadav and Gupta, in which the former demands the latter plan and execute the killing of Gurpatwant Pannun. In return, Gupta was told criminal charges against him, filed in a Gujarat court, would be dropped.

As part of this murder-for-hire conspiracy the prosecution also claims Yadav and Gupta contacted the ‘hitman’ – the undercover federal agent – to carry out the hit for $100,000.

An advance of $15,000 was paid in June last year, days before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the United States and shortly before another Khalistani terrorist, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, 45, was shot dead outside a gurdwara in Canada’s Vancouver.

Nijjar’s killing is the subject of a Canadian federal investigation and became the source of a bitter diplomatic row between Ottawa and New Delhi after Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s comment about “agents of the Indian government” being involved in the murder.

India denounced the claim – coming as Mr Trudeau’s popularity tanks before a general election – as “absurd”, “preposterous”, and “malicious”, and claimed vindication this week after the Canadian leader admitted he had no hard evidence to back his claim.

Gurpatwant Pannun Murder-For-Hire Plot

The attempted killing was to take place in June.

US officials believe Yadav provided Gupta with details about Pannun, including his New York address and daily schedule. This was passed on to the ‘hitman’.

However, Gupta told the ‘hitman’ to not act during or immediately after Mr Modi’s visit.

According to the indictment, the plan changed after Nijjar was shot dead on June 18 – two days before Prime Minister Modi’s visit. The following day Gupta allegedly told the ‘hitman’ not to wait; US officials claim he said “Nijjar was also a target… we have so many…:

On June 20 he reportedly told the ‘hitman’ “it is a priority now”.

The Nikhil Gupta Case

The storm broke in November last year after the US charged Gupta and Yadav; the latter was then referred to only as CC-1 amid uncertainty over links to the Indian government.

Gupta – in US custody now – claimed involvement with an international drug syndicate and weapons trafficking in his communications with Yadav, according to the indictment.

READ | Who Is Nikhil Gupta, Man Charged In Failed Plot To Kill Khalistan Terrorist

He was in Czechia at the time and was detained by authorities there till his extradition this year. While in Czech custody Gupta moved the Supreme Court in India – via a family member identified only as Mr X.

He claimed multiple violations of fundamental rights, including threats to himself and his family, and requested the Indian government to intervene.

READ | “Approach Czech Court”: Supreme Court On Indian Arrested In US Murder Plot

The Supreme Court said the matter did not lie in its jurisdiction and directed Gupta to seek relief from courts in Prague, but also told the External Affairs Ministry to do what it could.

The court noted it could only intervene to ensure consular access and that this had already been supplied, according to the petitioner’s own statement.

READ | “Made To Eat Beef,” Claims Family Of Indian Arrested In US Murder Plot

At present Gupta is being held at a detention centre in Brooklyn in New York.

Gupta’s lawyers have argued he was caught in ‘crossfire’ between the two governments.

Indian Government On Pannun Murder Plot

As soon as charges were filed India responded, firmly distancing itself from any murder-for-hire bid to kill an American citizen on foreign soil. The External Affairs Ministry said Delhi “takes such inputs seriously… and relevant departments are already examining the issue”.

In December Mr Modi made his first public statement, asserting that though the allegations were serious “a few incidents” could not derail ties between the two countries.

READ | PM Modi Breaks Silence On US’ Sikh Murder Plot Claim

“If someone gives us any information, we will definitely look into it,” the Prime Minister told the Financial Times, “If a citizen of ours has done anything, good or bad, we are ready to look into it. Our commitment is to the rule of law.”

Pannun Civil Suit Summons

The Indian government has, however, reacted strongly to a ‘summons’ by a US court in connection with a civil suit filed by Pannun, in which he claims a plot to kill him.

Apart from Yadav, Gupta, and the Government of India, the US District Court for the Southern District of New York also named National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and former RAW chief Samant Goel. This was in September. A reply was sought within 21 days.

India slammed the ‘summons’ as “completely unwarranted”.

With input from agencies

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